Moving The Test Program Into The E6601A's Pc Controller; Conclusion - Agilent Technologies e6601a Application Note

Moving the Test
Program into the
E6601A's PC Controller

Conclusion

Once a test program has been developed and debugged on the external PC, it is
loaded into the E6601A and the external PC can be disconnected. The transition
is simple. In the programming shown so far, all that really needs to be changed
is the resource descriptor for the test set.
In the example that uses the GPIB interface between the PC and test set, the
code reads:
TestSet.IO = CType(ResManager.Open("GPIB0::14::INSTR"), IMessage)
To run the same program internally, the Virtual LAN (as described earlier) should
be used. It can be done in two ways.
1. Hard coded, using the instrument name (for example, the instrument name
is E6601A0429):
TestSet.IO = CType(ResManager.Open("TCPIP0::E6601A0429::inst0::INSTR"),
IMessage)
2. Generic, which allows easier transport to other test sets:
TestSet.IO = CType(ResManager.Open("TCPIP0::localhost::inst0::INSTR"),
IMessage)
After changing the resource descriptor in the program, rebuild the .EXE and
move it to the E6601A (a USB flash drive is useful for this step) and run it as
before. Communication now takes place using the virtual LAN instead of the
GPIB connection used in the earlier examples.
As this example shows, writing a program to automate the E6601A test set is
straightforward using Windows-based programming tools. Setting up the
programming environment and the test set, verifying connectivity, creating a
programming flowchart, and writing the actual test program can all be
accomplished with relative ease. The program is then uploaded and run on the
E6601A's internal PC. This powerful capability, when added to the E6601A's
other time- and space-saving features, makes the test set a valuable addition to
a fast-paced, high throughput production line.
For more information about the E6601A, visit our Web site:
www.agilent.com/find/E6601A.
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